Ecuador Looks To Double Its Oil Production

The oil-dependent South American country Ecuador, which left OPEC in January 2020 to avoid production quotas, has embarked on an ambitious plan to double its oil output. The tiny Andean nation with a population of nearly 18 million has struggled for years to grow its hydrocarbon sector as a means of bolstering a fragile economy that has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic with its 2020 gross domestic product shrinking 7.5%. For decades, Ecuador has struggled to boost oil production with heavy-handed regulation, frequent environmental catastrophes,…